River's Choice
by Jaycie Victory
Summary: River has chosen her mate; Serenity's crew do not approve. Who will win the stand-off? One-shot; post-BDM. Rayne.


**A/N This fic is for deanandjo4ever1. The prompt came from her (him?! perils of a gender neutral pen name;)), and was requested as part of my Rayne "Sealed with a Kiss" series, but it didn't quite fit there, so I am publishing it here as a stand-alone. Hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

**River's Choice**

"I'm gonna kill 'im! I'm gonna _kill _'im! Let go of me, Zoe! I'm gonna KILL 'IM!"

"No – _I'm _going to kill him!" Simon broke in. "She's _my_ sister! It's my right!" Kaylee and Inara were less effective at restraining than Zoe, but with an arm apiece, they were managing to contain an enraged Simon.

Mal paused, displeased, but had to acknowledge the justice of this remark. "Okay – fine! I'll hold him down while you kill 'im – but _I _get to kick 'im in the _luǎn zi _first!"

Simon nodded his fierce agreement.

The source of the conflict was standing close together. Jayne's expression was veering towards panic, but so far he had managed not to bolt. River arms were folded; she looked supremely relaxed.

"Sir," Zoe interjected, while twisting his arm up behind his back, "not that I am unfamiliar with the urgin', but he _is _kinda handy in a fight. You sure you wanna kill 'im? What did he do?"

"We found him kissing River!"

Zoe stepped away and clasped her hands behind her back. "As you were, sir."

Mal grinned evilly and lunged towards Jayne, swiftly followed by Simon, after Inara released his arm and Kaylee wasn't strong enough to hold him alone. Both men were pulled up short, however, by River stepping in between, her face like flint.

She spoke one word, but it had the weight of a sharply thrown punch: "No."

"Outta the way, Albatross," Mal snarled.

"_No_, Captain," River said again.

"River, you don't understand – what he did was wrong. He took advantage—"

River cut him off: "Impossible to take advantage when it was someone else's instigation."

Simon frowned. "What do you mean, _mei-mei_?"

"The girl kissed Jayne; the girl initiated the physical contact. Jayne was hesitant – at first. The girl… persuaded him." Her lips quirked in a smile that horrified the rest of the crew.

"River – why… why would you _do _that? Why would you want to kiss that... that _b__en tian sheng de yi dui rou?_" Simon looked revolted.

"Hey!" Jayne piped up, offended.

"You don't speak!" Mal commanded with ringing tones and pointed finger.

"He is cobalt; she is steel. Magnets can only deny their nature so long – sooner or later they will collide and be joined." Again, there was a certain air that suggested more than one meaning to the words.

"RIVER!" Mal exploded.

"Quiet, Mal," Inara ordered, moving to the fore. "River, what do you mean? Do you mean that you're attracted to him? Granted he is a strong, some might say handsome man, but that does not mean he is a good choice for you—"

River interrupted, her tone faintly disdainful. "A Companion should know better than to liken attraction to the merely physical." Then her serious expression subsided, lips quirking once more. "Though it doesn't hurt that he is so easy on the eye." Jayne straightened up, looking pleased, then slumped again at the crossfire of death glares. "They are magnets: like and unlike. The constant push and pull keeps them both moving – causes both to advance."

"River," Kaylee spoke up, diffident but concerned, "I ain't sure this is such a good idea. You ain't just a little unlike **– **it's hard to think of two folk more opposed than you and Jayne. That don't strike me as a recipe for love."

River pointedly looked at Simon and Kaylee from left to right, an eyebrow raised. She maintained the eye contact until they both began to blush, then relented, But her tone was still slightly scathing. "Opposites attract. That is the nature of magnets." Her tone was now shading into "You're all such boobs" territory. "The strength of their magnetic fields is proportional to the magnitude of their moment. When one field touched the other, the resultant torque pulled them parallel **– **it oriented the girl."

"River, that's all well and good, but there's opposite, and then there's a gorram paradox big enough to swallow the ruttin' 'verse! It's like a _tiān cái _cat wantin' to mate with a moose! A ruttin' _chǔn_ moose, too!" Jayne opened his mouth to protest again, but Mal's finger shot out, forestalling him. "I couldn't even follow half of that explanation, and I am a mite more intelligent than _Jayne_." Mal folded his arms in triumph and smugly surveyed the crew; his expression turned sour when no one agreed with him. Harrumphing, he turned back to River. "Why would you want to be with him? There ain't nothin' good he can offer you."

River's voice was dry. "A point is reached where distances are so vast they cease to have substance or importance. A star that is ten light years away is no more out of reach than one that is two."

Mal blinked. "I think I just got insulted," he muttered.

"Measurable intelligence can never be a deciding factor for the girl when it comes to choosing a mate," River continued. "But Jayne is not stupid. His reaction times are fast – faster than any here with the exception of the girl. Jayne is often quick-witted, in humour and in sense not-so-common. Wit cannot exist without intelligence. It is interesting that none stopped to consider this." Her expression grew fierce. "Do not insult Jayne's intelligence again."

Kaylee's head was cocked curiously. "Then what _were_ your deciding factors, River? Why Jayne?"

"He is cobalt; she is steel. Shining metal, shining weapons ******–** the gun and the blade. Instruments of death; ammunition in the hands of others. But together they are more. A blade is no good when stuck. In a foreign object, in a rut, in a loop without escape. A gun can only shoot straight. Forging a path for the blade to follow. Jayne does not slow her – he sets her free." Unseen by her, one of Jayne's arms began to rise, unconsciously reaching for her, until he thought better of it.

River turned to Zoe; her tone gentled. "Consider the pilot: the Captain was the obvious choice, the 'better' one. The better fit in temperament, ideals and intelligence. Except that he wasn't. The pilot and the warrior were two meteors, two opposing shapes, pursuing disparate paths. But Serenity altered the trajectory. They came together, collided – they changed one another and were changed. Volcanic heat wrought perfect malleability. Together a new shape – a flawless fit. The sum of their totality better than their component parts. It is the same for the gun and the blade."

Zoe stared at her, frozen for a few seconds, then she nodded and stepped back.

River's eyes were sad for another's pain, but she turned to Inara.

"You are a Companion. You choose your partners not on outside appearance, but on compatibility. You must know that compatibility is not always obvious. Sometimes, the most beautiful combinations come from unexpected places. Sometimes, compatibility is not clear in the algorithm, but the output is too bright to be refused. You know this especially, Inara, so by what right do you ask others to justify their choice?" Inara's creamy skin glowed faintly pink under the ship lights. Her gaze snapped over to Mal and back again so swiftly it was almost imperceptible.

"Now, hold on one frog-humpin' minute, Albatross," Mal's tone was blustering. "You got no call to be lecturin' your elders this way. You are a member of _my_ crew – here at _my_ sufferance." He drew himself up pompously… a pomposity which was punctured moments later by River's needle-sharp response.

"Do not push too hard, Captain Reynolds. As the chieftain, you have the girl's fealty, but if you try to separate her from her mate again, she will renounce her allegiance. If you are not her crew, she owes you no courtesy. She is a Reader – she will be free to use her ability as she sees fit. Secrets will not remain secret for long." She looked at him, then Inara, and back again.

Mal spluttered, but gradually lowered his gaze under River's hardened one. Inara and Mal shuffled their feet like chastened children, but River wasn't done.

"The gun and the blade are yin and yang. The path of balance between two extremes. Jayne is earthy; the most terrestrial of us all. Feet firmly planted, grounded and strong. His partnership with the girl deepens his roots, nurtures his strength – allows him to reach for the heights.

"The girl is astral: flying high – but not free. Tossed and turned, batted and battered by prevailing winds; haphazardly blown to and fro. Until the inevitable occurs. The crashing fall.

"You think he stretches too high; you think he overreaches himself. You misunderstand. Yes, Jayne grounds the girl – he provides a fixed point of reference from which to fly. With Jayne she can fly at her own determination; with Jayne she can soar." Inara's eyes were huge with shocked comprehension. Mal was silent.

River's shining eyes refocused; she turned to Kaylee who responded with a mega-watt smile and two thumbs up. "No need, River. You had me convinced from he sets you free." She sighed romantically. "I'm so happy for you both." River beamed her thanks and turned to her final opponent, who had been watching events unfold with a kind of dazed horror.

"_Mei-mei_, I get it," Simon's tone was a little desperate, a last-ditch attempt from a commander who knows he is losing, whose troops have deserted him. "I've kept you too sheltered. Being on Serenity has stopped you from meeting people your own age – people like you – but we can fix that! We can take you to planets where you can meet new people – meet young men. You don't have to settle!"

River's smile was loving but firm. "There are no people like me, Simon. The Alliance saw to that." She slipped back into the third person. "Jayne may not always fully understand her, but by his very nature, he gives her what she needs. By his very nature, he is everything she wants. You must understand, _ghuh-ghuh_: Jayne is not a settlement – he is my first choice."

She took Jayne's hand in hers and faced him as she spoke. And as Simon lowered his head in surrender, Jayne raised his beautiful _fēng diān _weapon's hand to his lips, and kissed it with all the tender reverence in his heart.

* * *

**Glossary:**

_****__Ben tian sheng de yi dui rou_** – ****stupid, inbred sack of meat**

******__****Chǔn ****–******** retarded**

******_Fēng diān _********– ********crazy**

**_Ghuh-ghuh _****–** big brother

******_Luǎn zi_– testicles**

_**Mei-mei **__******– **_**little sister**

_******"The path of balance between two extremes" ****– **_**********refers to the Middle Way, one of the tenets of Buddhism**

_**Tiān cái **_******– genius**


End file.
